


Young Soul

by Viper_Flower



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Gen, I swear this wasn't meant to get this long, M/M, Passing Out, Philosophy, Singing, Talk of Souls and Soulmates, The title is only somewhat tied to the story, This went from cute age-re to deep philosophy, werewolf ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25007386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viper_Flower/pseuds/Viper_Flower
Summary: Ren brings an age-regressed Scar to Doc's house before promptly passing out
Relationships: Docm77 & GoodTimesWithScar, Docm77 & Rendog, GoodTimesWithScar/Rendog
Comments: 3
Kudos: 54





	Young Soul

**Author's Note:**

> If I misrepresented age-regression in any way, please let me know!
> 
> This was meant to be a cute oneshot of Scar being cute, I honestly didn't mean to get that deep about souls and soulmates

A knock rang through the house, and Doc sharply looked up from his work. He was trying to upgrade his arm so it would have a better grip, but it was proving more difficult than he had anticipated. He rose, leaving the prosthetic on the table for the time being. Clambering up the stairs to the main area of his half-house, he was greeted by an unexpected sight. On his porch, Ren was trying to coax his boyfriend, Scar, off the floor, but the latter was refusing to let go of the werewolf’s tail.

“Ren? What’s going on, why are you here?” Doc called out, drawing Ren’s attention towards him. He saw Ren’s eyes soften with relief as he tried to move forward, but the landscaper clinging to him made it difficult. Doc assessed the situation and realized what was going on, and instantly his tone lightened as he made his way over. “Hey Scar, how’s my favorite kiddo doing?” Scar looked up and smiled widely.

“Uncle Doc!” He scrambled up and rushed over to hug the creeper, who chuckled softly. Doc glanced over at Ren and his expression darkened again.

“Hey Ren, are you alright? You seem super out of it, man.” The werewolf merely met his gaze before starting to slump over. Doc quickly but gently loosened Scar’s grip on him before catching Ren in his one arm.

“Renny! Is Renny okay?” Scar cried out, confused and frightened. Doc’s robotic eye ran over Ren’s diagnostics, and he sighed.

“He’s fine, just tired. Guess he hasn’t slept in a while.” Doc adjusted his grip before dragging Ren to the sofa. He smoothly set the werewolf down and covered him with a blanket. Then he turned to Scar, who had taken to sitting criss-cross on the floor. “What were you two doing over here?”

“Renny was gonna take me to play with you today!” Scar piped up, and he pulled a white and blue shulker out of his inventory that Doc recognized as his box of toys. “He said he wanted to work, and that I’d be better here with Uncle Doc! And so here I am!” Doc smiled at Scar’s unending enthusiasm.

“Well then, I guess I have to play with you! Of course, I can’t do that with only one arm.” He wiggled his shoulder stump, making Scar laugh. “Let’s go downstairs, and once I finish upgrading my arm, we can play together.”

“Yeah!”

\-------

“So red goes to red, and blue goes to blue?” Scar watched as Doc slowly connected the wires in his prosthetic to their counterparts in his shoulder. The landscaper was tasked with holding the arm still on the desk, which was just tall enough for him to reach while kneeling.

“Yep! Color coordination is easy to keep track of.” Doc brushed Scar’s hands away from the arm and firmly locked it in place with a snap. He rose and helped Scar to his feet. “Now, what do you want to play? I know you have a shulker full of toys and games!” Scar beamed at the reminder of his toybox, and he quickly began to unpack it on the floor.

“Renny and Cubby got me a new color book! Look, look!” He held it up proudly, and Doc read ‘Lookie Lookie At My Coloring Bookie’ on the cover. Scar dropped the book, and gingerly pulled a plush cat doll from the box. “And Jellie is here, and she-” He stopped suddenly, tears springing into his eyes.

“What, what’s wrong? Is Jellie okay?” Doc kneeled beside Scar, who had begun to sniffle loudly.

“Her paw! It- her paw’s broken!” Scar clutched the Jellie doll close, crying louder now. Doc carefully lifted the offending arm and saw that the end of it was half ripped off.

“Oh no, that’s horrible! But don’t worry Scar,” Scar looked up at Doc with watery eyes, his lower lip trembling. “Your Uncle Doc is an expert in fixing arms! Let’s bring Jellie to my workbench.” Doc pulled up a stool for Scar to sit on before sitting in his chair and laying Jellie on the table. 

“Let’s see; only the end of her paw is hurt, but that makes it tough to sew back on. I think she’ll just need a new arm.” Scar nearly began to cry again, but Doc gently stopped him. “Can you go get my fabric bag from the closet? It’s grey with pink handles.”

Scar quickly trundled over to the closet and dragged a large bag back. Doc had begun to snip away the threads connecting the doll’s arm to its body. He looked down and chuckled. “That’s pink with grey handles. I need grey with pink handles, Scar.”

“Ah, okay!” Scar quickly put back the bag and returned with the right one. He whimpered at the sight of the detached arm, but he oohed at the shimmery fabric Doc pulled from the bag.

“Okay Scar, you get to make a decision; what color should Jellie’s new paw be? It can be any color you like.” Scar grinned, and he began to dig through the bag as Doc prepared the stuffing.

“Green, green! Like Uncle Doc’s arm!” Doc looked at the synthetic creeper-skin fabric Scar held up, the fuzz soft yet prickly in spots. He felt a pang in his heart, and he smiled warmly at his friend.

“Like Uncle Doc’s arm, it is.”

\-------

Ren groaned, a small wave of nausea rolling over him as he awoke. He sat up groggily, not sure why he was laying down in the first place. Suddenly, his thoughts were reassembled, and he shot off the sofa; he was supposed to take Scar to see Doc! Oh no, where is he?

The werewolf looked around, ears at full attention, and tail bristled. He was standing in Doc’s living room, obvious by the lack of a third wall, and a blanket was slumping off the sofa he was laying on. His sensitive ears picked up laughter from below, so he quickly padded downstairs. Once he reached the last step, he saw Scar and Doc sitting at a workbench, Scar’s legos scattered this way and that. The landscaper was holding his Jellie plush close to his chest as he laughed at the small scene Doc was making with the legos.

“Scar! Oh thank god, I thought I’d lost you!” Scar turned to see Ren, and his smile brightened to the point Ren was thankful he had sunglasses on.

“Renny! You’re awake now! Look, Uncle Doc fixed Jellie’s paw!” Scar hopped off his stool and rushed over to show his caregiver his plush. Doc also stood, but instead rested his hand on Ren’s shoulder.

“You passed out on the porch earlier, so I let you sleep for a while; it’s about 6 pm now.” He said softly, leading Ren to a chair by the workbench.

“Sorry man, I honestly didn’t mean to,” Ren sighed, allowing himself to be guided and plopping into the chair. “I was gonna ask if you could watch Scar while so I could get some more progress done on my base- Scar, I know you’re about to apologize, so don’t. I wanted you here with Doc so you’d be safe from any accidents, okay?”

“Okay,” Scar repeated, turning back to his legos and starting to click them together.

“Anyway, I’m super sorry, dude. I didn’t realize how tired I was until we got here.” Ren’s ears flattened against his head, but Doc reached over and rubbed behind them, making the werewolf lean into the touch.

“No worries, man. I’m always happy to take care of Scar, and you when you need it.” The two men laughed. “Just glad you fell asleep here rather than on your way back, or while you worked. How much sleep have you gotten?” Ren looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

“Well, Scar and I were out late last night and got jumped by a horde of mobs, which triggered him regressing, so I stayed up last night to make sure he slept well after that. Then the day before, I was fixing the Quadro-chopper the whole day because it broke. Uh, Saturday was the server meeting, and that went until like 4 am. And I can’t remember Friday, so I guess then?” Ren recounted, but Doc shook his head.

“Friday was your date night with Scar; you wouldn’t shut up about it all day, so it’s embedded in my memory.” Doc tapped the side of his head facetiously as he stood up to grab a bottle of water from his fridge. “So that means you hadn’t slept in at least half a week. Ren, I’m going to sound like a hypocrite, but get some more sleep.” The creeper handed Ren the bottle, and the werewolf took it gratefully.

“You’re right, you do sound like a hypocrite,” Ren took a swig of water. “But you’re also right about needing sleep. In fact, what time did you say it was? I think it’s bedtime for little Scars.” He said in a sing-song voice, making Scar look up from his legos.

“Bedtime? But I wanna play more with Uncle Doc!” Scar whined, pouting a bit. Doc laughed a bit, but he began to slide the legos into Scar’s shulker box.

“Another time, kiddo. You don’t want to end up passing out like Ren, do you?” Scar shook his head quickly with wide eyes, hurriedly scooping his toys up and putting them away. “Good. We’ll be upstairs in a minute, so wait for us there?” Scar nodded before grabbing his toybox and clambering up the stairs. Doc turned to Ren, who was throwing away the water bottle.

“Is there something you wanted to talk about, Doc?” Ren asked, his head cocked to the side and tail wagging slightly.

“I just wanted to say again that I’m always free to watch Scar for a day. You’re a wonderful boyfriend and caregiver, but if you work yourself to the bone all the time, you won’t have enough energy to care for either him or you.” Doc crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. “And I’m not the only one who wants to help. You remember the first time Scar regressed?”

“Yeah, back in Season 4,” Ren looked pensive as the memory played in his head. “Those skeletons had done a number on you, and Scar wouldn’t stop freaking out. He still won’t tell me why hordes trigger him so much, but I won’t pressure.”

“Interesting how it was your singing that calmed him. Maybe you were fated or something?” Doc pondered, but Ren merely laughed.

“Nah, I don’t believe in fate or whatever. Didn’t peg you for that kind of guy, either!” Ren began to climb upstairs, Doc following close behind.

“Normally, no, I’m not. But you and Scar are too perfect for each other, it’s hard not to think. Seriously, two builders who pride themselves in their story-telling projects with some sort of animal as their icons? Too similar to be a coincidence.” Doc explained, finally reaching the top step. “I’ve told you my theory about soulmates, right?”

“No, you haven't! What is it?” Ren stepped into the living room, where Scar had fallen asleep on the sofa, drooling slightly on the Jellie plush in his arms. The two men sat nearby, Doc lighting the fireplace as Ren ran his fingers through Scar’s hair.

“Well, since matter cannot be created or destroyed, that means we’re all made up of the same stuff, everything!” Doc explained, sitting in his favorite armchair. “My theory is that, though the universe is constantly expanding, certain atoms are drawn towards each other because they were part of the same early stars. And if those atoms are in people, then those people are drawn towards each other. Now, it may not always be romance; it may be platonic love or even a bitter rivalry, but that’s still a connection.”

“So that could mean that whole large groups of people are connected because of what stardust we’re made of.” Doc nodded, and Ren hummed. “That does make sense; I feel like I’ve known Scar for longer than we’ve been alive if that makes sense.”

“We all have ideas, philosophies, and to each their own. If we didn’t, the world would be a weird place.” Doc pulled a flask from his pocket, purposefully ignoring the look he got from Ren.

“No, not weird. Weird comes from each of us being ourselves. If we all thought the same, the world would be boring!” Doc chuckled at Ren’s claim.

“I’ll drink to that.” For a moment, they all sat in silence, Doc occasionally drinking as Ren continued to pet Scar’s hair. Bdubs passed by outside at one point, but he merely waved before heading to his half of the house.

Scar began to twitch, his formerly relaxed face scrunching and tears dripping from his eyes. Ren quickly pulled his boyfriend into his lap, and he hummed softly. 

“If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied, and illuminate the ‘No’s on their vacancy signs. If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, then I'll follow you into the dark. I’ll follow you into the dark.” Ren sang, and Doc felt a smile form on his lips. Ren’s soul shone in the dim lighting, resonating with Scar’s. 

Red and Light Blue entwined and curled into each other, and if Green reached out a hand to hold, to connect, it wouldn’t have been pushed away.


End file.
